Vintage Thingie Thursday : Vintage Quilt and a New Attitude....found at Goodwill!

Welcome everyone to Vintage Thingies Thursday. If you have a love for vintage things, well....you have come to the right place. We have a "dog-gone" good time each and every week!!!
If you are new to this party, please take the time to read and follow the instructions for participating in Vintage Thingies Thursday, click HERE. I try and keep things fairly simple, so please make sure you follow the instructions. Please only ONE link per week. Lastly, if you link in, LINK back to my blog, so everyone can see all of the vintage goodies being showed that day. If you don't link back here, they won't know who to visit......thanks so much.

This is the second half of my post from Tuesday, if you somehow missed it, click HERE to catch up and know what all this rambling is about......

This past week, my daughter was home and we stopped by a couple of Goodwill stores on half price day.  We were at one store that I hardly ever go to anymore, and we had several things in our hands to pay for. Mostly, home decor items that could be reworked into something wonderful, nothing that was  in the form of a vintage treasure.

In fact, we were finished shopping and were in line waiting to check out. It just so happens that I glanced at a little older lady who was in the next line waiting to pay as well. In her hands was a Sunbonnet Sue Quilt. I could not believe her stroke of luck.

I was stunned because I have never seen a quilt at Goodwill before and more importantly, I could not figure out how I could have possibly missed spotting this.....I guessed it was another example of being at the store a little too late.

Unknowing to me,  I guess the little older lady noticed I was looking at the quilt......looking a little too close from across the isle. I nudged my daughter to look at that.....she asked What? So I pointed out the quilt the lady had in her hands. Again, the lady noticed the two of us staring at the quilt a little too much.

Suddenly, the little older lady asked me if I would like to see the quilt.....rather dumbfounded, I said, oh, yes, I'd love to see it.
 All the while, I thought it was going to be pure torture to actually have a close up look and see it walk away with the little older lady.

As soon as I got over to where the lady stood waiting in line, she held the quilt out and said, "It is all hand quilted....and nicely done too." Oh, I had to agree, it was a real beauty. The quilt was really yellowed from being stored and aged. The lady quickly pointed that out, and I just said, yes it was....never even telling her  how easy it would be to clean it up like new. Shameful.

I was completely taken with the fabrics in the Sunbonnet Sue's....vintage fabrics that were just stunning. I told her she had a great quilt there and how wonderful to have found it and how beautiful it was. I was polite enough to thank her for letting me see it up close.

As I turned to walk back to where my daughter waited, she did something that totally caused my heart to clinch in my chest. I thought surely, I had not heard her correctly.  I must have misunderstood. Completely.

She asked me if I would like to have the quilt. I turned and I am sure looked rather stunned and asked her did she not want it?? She just smiled and said if I wanted it, I could have it....she said she did not need it and she could tell I really was taken with the quilt. She said she did not have the time to try and clean it up and it might not survive the washing.....shamefully, I did not offer her instructions on cleaning it..... I asked her once again, if she was sure and she exclaimed she was. Told me to enjoy it. I hugged her, told her it would have a wonderful home and thank you so much.

Rather quickly, I retreated to the line my daughter was in to pay before she changed her mind. There was a lady in front of us that heard the exchange between myself and the little older lady and she rather loudly exclaimed, if I did not want the quilt, she did....I held on to it a little tighter and gave it to the checker to pay. Remember, it was half price day, and the quilt was $4.99...so half price was $2.49......unbelievable.

My daughter was just as stunned as I was. She said she could not believe that lady just gave me the quilt after she saw us staring at it. She asked me had I ever given anyone anything that was in my buggy like that before.....and that is when it happened.....the guilt of my past actions overcame the joy of this quilt.

I suddenly remembered all the times I got so angry at people for this very thing I did today, staring at someones great find. And I admitted to my daughter no way would I have ever done this in the past. She just looked at me and said did I feel bad?? Feel bad?? I guess I sorta did to a certain degree.....I was thrilled with my quilt, and thrilled that the lady saw fit to give it up, but also, felt pretty shameful for my inappropriate behavior in the past.

I brought this little treasure home, and soaked and washed it in my vintage linen solution and it is white and good as new. There are only two little Sue's that have some fabric damage, but not much. The hand quilting is amazing and the colors stunning. I am in love with the border of this quilt. But aside from all its loveliness, it is also a reminder to play it forward in the future. And I will.....because with my track record at thrift stores, I am sure the situation will present itself. This time, I vow to not let it get my hackles up when someone eyes my buggy with treasures in it. I will try to be as sweet as this little lady was to me.

 But if I am being honest here, I hope the situation does not present itself when I have a buggy full of things I just LOVE....but you know, I have a feeling that is when it will and that is where the lesson and blessing will be.

I wanted to say I so enjoyed reading all the comments from Tuesday's post. You guys really made me feel a little better about my reacting to rude people in general. None the less, there has been a lesson in all of this for myself....and I need to stop reacting and start to act a little more compassionately. Have a great Vintage Thingie Thursday and I hope you enjoyed my vintage quilt today....the story is almost as good as the quilt.